IMPULSE MAGAZINE: Stripping Down to Our Hair at 601Artspace
Bangs, bobs, and blonde bombshells. Greer Lankton’s 1989 mixed-media piece, If you can pass for a girl, critiques society’s rigid limits of femininity. A Pippi Longstocking-esque synthetic wig sits atop a small vanity mirror that reads, “If you can pass for a girl, then anyone can.” In this tongue-in-cheek gesture, Lankton memorializes her sister’s snarky response to her transition. Parodying some of the most pervasive stereotypes of “perfect womanhood,” Lankton explores her sister’s bare-bones perspective of femininity. This work toggles between painful and playful; it presents the nuclear wife doctrine as a folly. If you can pass for a girl calls to mind a moment from legendary trans writer McKenzie Wark’s memoir, Reverse Cowgirl. She analyzes cisgender femininity, writing, “She pressed so hard into femme that it was as if she was fucking her own look from the inside.” Lamkton’s synthetic bob echoes Wark’s sentiment, emphasizing hair’s role in performing femme.
Care / Condition / Control is a masterclass in expansive exploration, not just of hair, but the impact our biomaterials hold in building and telling our histories. The artists have carefully carved out avenues for intersectional exploration of hair as a medium, as a circumstance, and as an identity marker. It is a remarkable show.
